Research Guides: Slavery & Freedom in Maryland: Maryland Laws

Maryland State Law

The Maryland Room houses a variety of resources on early Maryland Law, including court cases, state constitutional laws, committee debates, and other official legislation from the state government. If you are looking for a reference to a specifc law or legal issue, it may help to identify a range of years and begin looking at reports or laws published during that time.

To search sources of early Maryland law available in the Maryland Room, use the College Park Advanced Searc h and use the limit location to Marylandia & Rare Books.

Next, enter your keyword, author, or other search terms. For example, type "maryland law" into the all fields option. Finally, enter the desired year or range of years using the year/s search option to retrieve materials from early Maryland history.

You may also consult the list below for a selection of titles related to early Maryland law.

Image: Cover, Report of the Committee on the Coloured Population, of answers of the president of the Colonization Society of Maryland, in obedience to the order adopted by the House of Delegates, on the 4th of January, 1841.

Maryland Law Resources

A Digest of the Laws of Maryland. Being an Abridgment, Alphabetically Arranged, of All the Public Acts of Assembly Now in Force and of General Use from the First Settlement of the State, to the End of November Session, 1797, with References to the Acts at by Thomas Herty
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks KFM1230 1797.H4

The following is a selection of print sources on early Maryland state laws. Click on a link to view the full catalog record.

Archives of Maryland
Call Number: Maryland Folio F176.A67
Baltimore, Maryland Historical Society.
Immediate Emancipation in Maryland. Proceedings of the Union State Central Committee, at a Meeting Held in Temperance Temple, Baltimore, Wednesday, December 16, 1863 by Republican Party (Md.). State Central Committee
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E453 .R47 1863
Baltimore, Printed by Bull & Tuttle, 1863.
Laws of Maryland, Made Since M, DCC, LXIII [-1784], Consisting of Acts of Assembly under the Proprietary Government, Resolves of Convention, the Declaration of Rights, the Constitution and Form of Government, the Articles of Confederation, and, Acts of As
Call Number: Maryland Oversize KFM1230 .A3 1787
Annapolis, Printed by Frederick Green, printer to the state, 1787.
Maryland Reports, Being a Series of the Most Important Law Cases, Argued and Determined in the Provincial Court and Court of Appeals of the then Province of Maryland, from the Year 1700 [i.e. 1658] Down to the [end of 1799] ... Selected from the Records o by Maryland Provincial Court
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks KFM1712.A51 M31
New York, Printed and published by I. Riley. For sale by Coale & Thomas, Baltimore; Seymour & Williams, Savannah; [etc., etc.] 1809-18.
Maryland Reports: Containing Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Court of Appeals of Maryland by Maryland Court of Appeals.
Call Number: Maryland Stacks KFM1245 .A
Annapolis, Md.: Robert F. Bonsall, 1853-1869.
Speech of Hon. John A.J. Creswell, of Maryland, on the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: Delivered in the House of Representatives, January 5th, 1865 by John Creswell
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E453 .C74 1865
[Washington] : L. Towers, [1865]
The Debates of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Maryland: Assembled at the City of Annapolis, Wednesday, April 27, 1864: Being a Full and Complete Report of the Debates and Proceedings of the Convention, Together with the Old Constitution, th by Maryland Constitutional Convention
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks JK3825 1864.A15
Annapolis: Printed by R.P. Bayly, 1864.
The First Laws of the State of Maryland by Compiled by John D. Cushing
Call Number: Maryland Stacks KFM1230.5 .C955 1981
Facsimile reprint of: Laws of Maryland...Annapolis, Maryland: F. Green, 1787.
The Maryland Code: Public General Laws
Call Number: Maryland Stacks KFM1230 .A22 1860
Baltimore : John Murphy & Co., 1860.

Online Sources

Use the links below to find sources of Maryland state law that have been digitized and made available online.

Archives of Maryland Online
Provides access to digitized historical documents that form the constitutional, legal, legislative, judicial, and administrative basis of Maryland's government. The section on early state records covers up to the 1830s.
Maryland General Assembly House and Senate Documents
A selection of House and Senate materials from the Maryland General Assembly that have been digitized. Includes documents from the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s.